Word of God for free at Bonnke’s Crusade
The crusade was scheduled to start at 4p.m. on November 6, 2014 in Kumasi. I thought it was the typical Ghana time so I decided to delay a bit thereby gaining an hour or two for myself. But I was wrong. The crusade started on time, the typical white man’s time.
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Having arrived late I had no option but to stand about 400 meters away from the dais. There were so many people that if one threw a handful of sand into the sky it would never find its way back to earth again, to borrow a phrase from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. From where I stood I could see about 100, 000 people and many were still coming to the crusade grounds from all directions.
Far away from me, the stage was well set. In the midst of darkness, the place appeared well-lit. I looked around to see where the giant generators had been set but the place was cool, no noise. This made me to wonder why the electricity company had allowed light only at the crusade grounds. A friend I had made where I stood told me that the organisers had brought their own special generator set from abroad. Tried as we did, we could not find where the machine was located.
I could also see what looked like a crane which was moving up and down. I later learnt it was a device which facilitated video coverage, enhancing both ground and aerial views. The sound quality was superb emanating from well set gargantuan speakers properly placed to avoid interference and provide optimal acoustic effect.
Spirit of God
At this point no one needed to be told that the amount of money which had been expended into the organisation was enormous. To say that millions had been sunk into the organisation was to express the obvious. The pastor who would probably be called to lead the appeal for funds may probably have the easiest task, as everything had been well laid out for all to see. One could feel the spirit of God moving around and many received their healing.
I was at my mathematics best. I quickly calculated that, if all who were touched by the show of magnanimity and the power of God, if each person was to donate a minimum of two Ghana Cedis, at least close to half a million Ghana cedis would be realised the first day. To my surprise, there was no appeal for funds the first day.
I wanted to contribute something, in my own small way, to help settle the huge expenditure which they had incurred in setting the place up. I had been to smaller crusades where appeals for funds had been launched to settle operating cost, sometimes to even include the cost of air tickets for speakers who were invited from abroad.
No appeal for funds
I felt disappointed for not being able to contribute on the first day as I had to travel the next day for the weekend. Far away in Accra, I could still imagine the money they were going to raise on the second, the third and indeed the last day which was a Sunday. I called a friend who disclosed that the attendance for the first day was nothing compared to subsequent days. He declared that attendance the last day was overwhelming and that he had not seen anything parallel to that although he had been to many crusades both here and abroad.
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Since the organisers had not made any appeal yet, I thought it would be made the last day in a grand style. How did it go? Did people respond well to the appeal? I was surprised when my friend told me that they did everything, save fundraising. There was no room for even the usual collection or offertory.
But these were people who had travelled from far and wide. Their mission? To preach the word of God, to heal the sick and lead many to salvation and that was exactly what they did. They made good the saying that whoever God calls and sends, He makes enough provision for their entire journey and mission.
In an era where people preach for less than 30 minutes and make appeal for funds lasting more than an hour, one cannot help but agree that indeed, their motive was genuinely to lead many to Christ and bring hope to many who were afflicted
